We proudly announce extended five-year contract with JLR to create fibre-based packaging solutions within a fully integrated service model
This extension of our longstanding contractual agreement with JLR is a five-year £108 million contract that underscores JLR’s intention to invest in sustainability and marks the iconic brand’s move from transactional packaging to a fully integrated service model. The focus of this agreement is on the manufacture and assembly of key JLR products for customers in global markets.
We are supplying the JLR Mercia campus with a one-stop-shop solution for packaging products that are inclusive of inbound product packaging, outbound shipping packaging, and warehouse storage. Our innovative end-to-end approach is centred around flexibility and agility and based on a fixed cost agreement to cover a combination of outputs and delivery options and requirements.
The contract includes provision of an on-site warehousing and transportation service called JLR Just in Time (JIT) which we created to ensure a materially lean supply and flow of sustainable packaging materials, and the service is set up to seamlessly facilitate the delivery of packaging products to end user storage facilities. In addition, to support JLR’s Aftermarket service requirements, we have installed an on-site one-stop-shop operation model at JLR’s Mercia Park facility in Appleby Magna, Leicestershire, UK.
The extended contract reflects JLR’s long-term strategy to minimise the use of unnecessary materials in their packaging and to use innovative sustainable design to eliminate waste. As part of the extended agreement, we are ensuring that any excess waste material in the form of corrugated cardboard from the JLR packing process is sorted and prepared for recycling or reuse in secondary pack material. In addition, this integrated approach to packaging production and solutions with a renewed focus on engineering, is intended to support the reduction of both CO2 emissions and costs.
“We are incredibly pleased to be able to announce the extension of our contract with JLR. We are working together to find new ways of innovating for the future and successfully transforming industry standards in packaging and design together. The new service reflects a joined-up approach as we work together to manage packaging production, integration and planning for the entire supply chain and this is in keeping with our shared sustainability goals,” said Chay Ankers, Market Sector Business Unit (MSBU), Director, Automotive, DS Smith:
Our extended contract builds on previous achievements and product innovation, and for example, we previously launched a Bumper Outer Shipper packaging service to facilitate the packaging of individual vehicle parts for JLR worldwide in 2022. This successfully generated a 125% increase in the volume of bumpers shipped, expanded the freight capacity in delivery vehicles, and drove time saving efficiencies during the assembly of one-piece self-locking primary packs, while making for faster and easier unpacking for dealers. Our approach and ongoing partnership with JLR echoes our company-wide purpose to Redefine Packaging for a Changing World, which is supported by our target-led Now & Next Sustainability Strategy.
